The problem with over coaching front foot strike is that all of the power production that must occur before front foot strike is forgotten. This will develop an accurate pitcher but if the pitcher struggles with power issues then he will be a low velocity accurate pitcher with a higher chance of having arm problems. Unfortunately, this is not going to get him to the next level.

The key to coaching front foot strike is to first coach the power stride before you move into front foot strike. If the pitcher has done his job and conquered his power issues and has developed an explosive stride then front foot strike becomes critical in converting this power into torque.

How to Convert Stride Power to Torque at Front Foot Strike?

This understanding of stride power converting to core torque through front foot strike was developed here at TopVelocity.net first. This is the foundation of 3X Pitching. Before 3X Pitching was developed here, no other source had defined why harder throwers use longer faster strides to throw harder. The only source to come close to this discovery was the National Pitching Association in their 2005-2006 Velocity Study where they proved that more hip to shoulder separation creates more throwing velocity. The study acknowledges the importance of the stride power but does not define the conversion of this power into hip to shoulder separation and then into the velocity of the ball.

The Holy Grail to Power Pitching

This description of how power from the stride converts to hip to shoulder separation is the Holy Grail of the power pitcher. The better you are at converting stride power to core torque at front foot strike, the better your velocity and precision, therefore the more dominate you are as a pitcher.

This conversion occurs more efficiently and effectively when triple extension (3X) is achieved before front foot strike. This means the ankle, knee and hip flexor are all fully extended, in an explosive manner, before front foot strike occurs. This not only builds stride power but it also opens the hips to the target before the front foot lands. When the front foot lands it stabilizes and converts the 3X power, using ground reaction forces, back up the landing leg into the front hip. 3X power and stabilization of the front leg at front foot strike creates explosive hip rotation. If the shoulders stay in-line with the target during the stride then this explosive hip rotation will move the hips away from the shoulders before the shoulders have time to react and launch. This separation of the hips to shoulders creates torque in the core which multiples the force and launches the shoulders in the same direction towards the target. This process continues to activate and multiple force up the upper kinetic chain, until the ball is released.

How Placement of the Front Foot can Effect Velocity and Precission?

Notice the picture here of Tim Lincecum. He is not landing on a straight line towards the target (see original foot position). This is because for his front leg to stabilize and promote optimal hip rotation at front foot strike, his front foot must land on his center of gravity. If his foot had landed in a straight line towards his target then he would not have established good balance at front foot strike which good balance leads to good stabilization. He would also not have allowed his hips the opportunity to open completely towards the target. The front foot landing on line with his center of gravity is both critical for power conversion and complete hip rotation.

Tim Lincecum is not the only pitcher to do this in his delivery. Notice the other examples on this page of power pitchers landing with their center of gravity not always on a straight line.

* Important Notice *

Just because you land inside the straight line towards the target with your landing leg foot doesn’t mean that you are landing with your center of gravity. The only way to check this is using video analysis and filming the front side of your delivery.

You should only make these adjustments with your front foot strike once you have developed good stride power and distance using the 3X Pitching Velocity program and you have determined your center of gravity at front foot strike. Making these adjustments before developing good stride power and distance and achieving optimal hip to shoulder separation at front foot strike will be putting the cart before the horse and the result may only be accuracy without velocity.

Dr. James Andrews at ASMI put together a study of low velocity pitchers to high velocity pitchers to determine the difference in pitching mechanics. It was a good feeling after reading this study because the same information coming from Dr. Andrews is the same information Top Velocity has been preaching for years. It proves why I overcame a rotator cuff tear and was able to reach 94 mph on my fastball post surgery.

What these high velocity pitchers where doing different was transferring more momentum to the ball faster and more efficiently than the low velocity pitchers. There was four significant differences and these differences did not start until front foot strike. This means it doesn’t matter how you build momentum but you must build as much momentum as you can, then when your front foot lands your front leg must stabilize and continue to extend back into the hips before ball release. This front knee extension mainly occurred with the high velocity group of pitchers. The next major component of high velocity came with maximum external rotation of the arm when the trunk was tilted all the way over the front foot due to the excessive amounts of momentum generated into front foot strike. The study states that the reason for this maximum external rotation is because

“Greater shoulder external rotation causes a stretch of the internal rotators allowing energy to be stored in these muscles, and creating greater internal rotation during the arm acceleration phase.”

This leads into the next and most important component of the study. This component is by far a major component of not only velocity but arm health and pitch location. The study finishes with describing the importance of early elbow extension and internal rotation once the arm begins its launch to the target. I can’t stress the importance of this component enough. I have to admit that Top Velocity has not focused enough on this component and doesn’t have it in the Ace Pitcher Handbook. This will be added soon!

Early elbow extension and internal rotation is even more important when throwing a football. This is because to throw a good spiral you must have early elbow extension and early internal rotation to spiral the ball to your target. I recommend using a football in your warm ups to help improve on this component. The key to getting early elbow extension and internal rotation is keeping the arm relaxed the entire pitching delivery. The main focus of the arm is to be in position to receive the transfer of momentum and to transfer that momentum quickly and almost effortlessly. The only part of the arm doing work is the forearm. It is holding onto the ball with the finger tips. This is what controls pitch movement and location.

To learn more about this study please read the reference article here:
Comparison of High Velocity and Low Velocity Pitch Deliveries

Most of the articles on this site pertain to pure velocity but what is the value of Top Velocity when the pitcher can not locate his pitch? Zero is the answer. There is no value in Velocity that doesn’t end in a strike. I have witnessed many hard throwing pitchers or should I say throwers in my career who could not hit “the broad side of a barn.” These guys never made it anywhere because of this major problem of poor accuracy. The problem with coaching accuracy is that most pitching coaches over do it. They create pitchers who look like they should be throwing darts instead of fastballs. This is why I focus on velocity first and then I teach my pitchers how to control it.

I recommend that you read at least three articles on this site about velocity before continuing on with this article.

Pitch location is as important as velocity. For a pitcher to be successful on the mound he must disrupt the batters timing. There are many ways a pitcher can do this. Pitch speed, pitch movement and pitch location. I believe the two most effective is pitch speed and pitch location. If you can reach your top velocity and locate your pitches then you can make it into minor league ball with just a fastball and change up. I would recommend you use this stratgey in your own career because if you start throwing breaking balls and you have poor mechanics, it can be devastating to your arm. So why take the risk when you can be just as effective or even more effective with top velocity and good pitch location?

Before you can start hitting your spots with pin point accuracy you must understand how to control your pitches. Conventional wisdom would talk about the balance point and go on about it for hours. I will show you a different perspective.

Accuracy is controlling your momentum. To control your momentum you must be balanced but that should be second nature. The goal is to control your momentum without effecting it. This is where most pitchers fail. They try to control their momentum to a point that it slows it down. This is no good. This is why I teach top velocity until it becomes second nature and then I teach how to control that velocity.

The control comes from the front side. You must take aim with your front side as you begin to start your momentum to the target. This is important because once your hips start building momentum towards the target, you must do everything in your power to release every ounce of explosive energy from your body, while using that energy to fire certain muscle groups at specific times in your delivery. So once you lift your leg and kick that butt out to start your load to building momentum you must setup your front side for pitch location. To do this you must separate your hands and relax your throwing arm while closing off your glove hand. You must also slightly turn your lift leg foot inward to close off your hips. Notice the picture above of Jon Lester performing this setup. This is a similar moment in the delivery as a sprinter would perform just before taking off. The sprinter would setup his body for take off to control his launch and gives his body the best opportunity to reach his top velocity as quick as possible, which is the same thing we are trying to do as pitchers.

The reason for closing off the front side is because it makes it easier for our momentum to travel straight to the target. If the glove arm was to open early or the lift leg, then this would throw our weight off to the side and more than likely the pitch would follow. So staying closed is important because it keeps our momentum going straight to the target. Just like a sprinter wouldn’t want to start leaning to his left before he fired out of his stance.

Another important tip is to stay closed as long as possible because of the same reasons and also because it will help you build more torque in “Separation.” “Separation” is when your hips have opened to the target and your shoulders are still closed like the picture below. Building more torque means more velocity.

Do not forget that you must not effect your velocity when adjusting your mechanics for pitch location. To prevent this you must close your shoulders and hips off first and then the rest of the delivery you must keep them closed while hitting all the key components of velocity that I have described in detail on this site. This is a lot of coordination but remember not everyone has the ability to pitch in the top levels on the game.

In my article Olympic Lifting Increases Pitching Velocity, I use Newton’s second law to prove why Olympic Lifting will increase your velocity. If you have not read this article, please do. I will now illustrate how aerodynamics can help us as pitchers to understand how to develop our top velocity.

Think of velocity as a jet, like the picture here. The red line illustrates the aerodynamics of the machine. If you notice the jet has the same amount of weight on the left side of the line as the right. This means it is symmetrical. Also see the line as the quickest distance between two points. If the jet stays on that straight line, it will get to its final destination faster than if it strayed off the line, on its way to the end.

The definition of Aerodynamics is the study of the forces of air, acting on objects in motion, relative to air. This would mean that if there is a drag on the left side of the jet, then not only will the jet slow down, but it will be forced to stray off the straight line. This will decrease velocity to the jet in two ways: the first way is by decreasing the force applied by the engines with the drag effect, and the second way is by forcing the jet to travel outside of the straight line in a more curved direction.

“I am sure you are wondering how this applies to pitching, but this is the quantum leap you must make here.”

I will use these pictures of Felix Hernandez to help you with this leap. Felix has one of the hardest fastballs in the game and you will now see one reason why.

I have added the red line to show you the same information as with the fighter jet. Notice how the weight distribution on both sides of the red line, in all three pictures, is almost evenly distributed like the aerodynamics of the jet. This is what keeps Felix’s body moving forward on his “Point of Balance.” If his weight distribution was more on the right side than the other, he would loss considerable velocity. This is because his arm would create drag on his body and he would need to over compensate by pulling his arm across his body, to keep his body moving forward. This would force him, like the jet, to stray off the straight line path and the drag would decrease the force that he created in his lower half when driving off the mound.

This doesn’t mean you must throw over the top. What it means is you must keep your weight evenly distributed over your “Point of Balance.” So, if you throw sidearm, you need to distribute your weight more over the outside part of your landing foot, using your hips to shift the weight and not your shoulders.

The key here is what you see Felix and all the hard throwers doing. This is using their hips to control their “center of gravity” while balancing all of their weight over their landing leg. This is the reason why pitcher’s must have very strong legs and core strength to throw hard.

The best way to find your “Point of Balance” is with a photograph. Draw a line from your belt buckle to your landing leg toes. With this line you should see your weight evenly distributed on both sides of the line.